Heart Rate Monitors

Dear All,

I'm a new member to the PM club having taken ownership of my new unit on the 31st Dec 2012.

I'm a keen cyclist so hope to get back on my bike as soon as possible, do any of your good folks have any advice on when it would be prudent to start cycling again.

Also, I read yesterday (instructions on my Polar HRM) that anyone with a PM should seek medical guidance before using a heart rate monitor. Does anyone have any experience/knowledge of this subject, I suspect it's probably the manufacturer (Polar) being cautious.

Thanks

Mike

10 Comments

This blog may be of interest

by ponch - 2013-01-25 02:01:10

I tried two Polar monitors and neither worked with my very irregular heart beat.
The blog below describes the experiences of an elite bicyclist from 2008 to 2011. His problem was with v-tach.

http://v-tach.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2008-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2009-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=18

Hi Mike.........................

by Tattoo Man - 2013-01-25 08:01:11

.........................I've used a Polar and a Cardiosport with no problems. Do be prepered for the odd wacky reading though...I've see 235 bpm just walking round the house...this 'doubling-up' will be better explained by Frank and Don. I wear a dog tag PM ID and that does skew readings I have found.

Happy pedalling...I would wait till the end of the month.

Keep your gears down and keep off the big hills...stay in the saddle so you are not straining your shoulder. You didnt say whether you ride a Road bike or a Mountain bike. If you have a choice, stick to the Mountain bike but keep on the Tarmac.

Best wishes

Tattoo Man

HRM

by climber - 2013-01-25 08:01:54

I used a HRM for running after PM fitted in 2010: I found no problems: Call your pacemaker nurse, if in doubt. Good luck:

warnings

by Tracey_E - 2013-01-25 09:01:30

It's a cya world! The monitor is not going to affect your pm but they don't want people exercising who don't have a dr's permission.

If your dr cleared you for cardio, you should be able to start training again on a stationary bike now. Riding the bike itself is fine, but the bumps probably won't feel good and you can't risk a fall so it's best to stay off the road a little longer.

I had a polar, it said my hr was 0! My pm interferes with it, this is common. Or, as TattooMan said, sometimes the opposite can happen and it picks up the pm spikes along with the beats so it shows a number that's too high. I go by how I feel and don't worry much about what my hr is.

MONITOR

by goldenoldy - 2013-01-25 11:01:36

Hi, I was using a wrist monitor, the readings seemed a bit strange, very low. My good friend who is a retired GP told me that the reading taken at the wrist is not reliable. I think read on here of someone who was getting two different readings at each wrist!
Brian

I have a HR monitor

by RobertS - 2013-01-25 11:01:40

one of those gizmos that fits on the end of the index finger and shows HR and Pulse Ox. Seems to work Ok with my pm. Seems pretty accurate too for HR though the pulse ox can be a bit off sometimes. I checked it against the hospitals when I went for my check up.

Robert

Polar Heart Rate Monitor

by Grateful Heart - 2013-01-25 12:01:04

I use a Polar HRM. It works fine for me, very accurate when comparing it to the machine readings at the gym, no problem...everyone is different. Once in awhile I will get a 0 reading but if I press on the strap where the transmitter is located it corrects itself. I was told by Boston Scientific to wear the transmitter part of the strap (the bump in the strap) on the opposite side from the device so I keep mine on the right side.

The disclaimer is CYA for the company. I also use a FitBit...no problems.

Happy cycling,

Grateful Heart

Monitors and cycling

by Matabar - 2013-01-25 12:01:59

Hi Mike,
Some good advice above! I am an avid cyclist with a PM, installed 7/30/12. My EP advised that I stay off the bike for a few months while everything heals. He may be conservative but, I took his advice. I started riding a stationery bike, as Tracey suggested, a few weeks out of surgery and it worked great to get me back in shape for the real thing.
I have a Timex heart rate monitor and it works just fine. My EP told me that all the heart rate monitors are fine to use with a PM.
I found a blog written by a cardio electrophysiologist in Louisville, KY that I really enjoy. He's also a bike racer. Interesting to get his perspective on things. You and other cyclists in the club might enjoy it.
His name is Dr. John Mandrola and his blog address is: www.drjohnm.org
Do a search on the right hand side of the page for the subjects you're interested in.
Good luck to you! Carol

Love my polar

by Rommom - 2013-02-03 09:02:47

I got my polar heart rate monitor after starting to bike for a couple of months and I felt like my pacemaker wasn't responding to the excercise demand I was putting it under. My doctor changed my setting to let my heart rate get up 160 and it made all the difference. Sometimes it says my heart rate is 197, but the majority of time is fairly accurate and gives me a idea of my heart rate.
I feel great biking and love doing it! My doctor also told me to try move my chest back and forth when biking. The pacemaker senses when someone is running ( with the motion) and increases the rate of the pacemaker to respond to the excercise. keep biking and keeping active!

HRM

by casati1 - 2013-02-11 09:02:19

Dear All,

Thanks for all your replies and kind assistance.

I attended hospital (UK) this morning to get my pacemaker checked (it was fitted whilst on holiday in Lanzarote 5 weeks ago).

My pacemaked was fitted to ensure my heart rate doesn't fall below a certain level as this was the cause for me losing consciousness on a number of occassions.

The technician/nurse said my pacemaker had been set at a minimum level of 60 bpm (which seems quite high?) and a maximum of, I think she said 120bpm.

I said I was a keen cyclist so she increased the figure to 155 bpm.

She was extremely busy so I didn't get chance to discuss these settings as much as I would have like.

So I wonder if anyone could enlighten me on why I need to have my pacemaker monitoring the upper rate when I would have thought it's only my lower rate which is the problem.

And secondly, what does the upper rate parameter actually do? The nurse said that I will be able to exceed the upper limit if I'm working my heart hard enough (which I will be when climbing hills) so I'm bemused why I need to have the upper HR monitored at all.

Any assistance, guidance would be gratefully received.

Thanks

Mike

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